Gratitude
by sarsis
Summary: Time: Just at the end of Guardian Blue, Season 1. Jack is working on set of a movie he's shooting and trying to come to terms with the loss of Officer Wilde. It's hit his friend Skye especially hard. It's the day of the funeral and he gets a frantic call from the vixen. But things are about to go from great, to WAY BETTER for Jack and Skye.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

 _We have here another submission that falls into the adults only rating. And it'll be falling deep into that. We got to explore already that first sweet encounter with a fox and bunny we all adore… but there's another fox and bunny in the story and their deepening relationship was no less important to the series._ _This will be split into two chapters, the first of which will not be adult, specifically. The second will be a lot._ _So… let's look just a little bit closer…_

 ** _If you are just joining this series for the first time_** _this story is in the continuum AFTER Season 1, chapter 25, so you will definitely want to read Thanks for the Fox and Guardian Blue: Season One for important context! As an intimate story, however, this can still be enjoyed on its own. A new reader will just have to assume some of the backstory._

 _Not only does Disney not pay me to write this, but they'd probably wish I hadn't. I do not own the world, the characters, or a second box of tissue._

 _Read on at your discretion._

 **Gratitude**

 _Chapter 1: Welcomed Interruption_

Life kept moving. Days interrupted by tragedy eventually melted into the days everyone else lived, even without the one who was lost. The outpouring of support slowed to a trickle and the every-minute-reminder of the terrible event ebbed to allow the requirements of general existence to creep in again.

It was, to most, just another day on the set. Jack was visibly frustrated due to a requested edit to a scene that he'd already shot twice. Aggravating though it was, this was a welcome change from the deeply morose feeling of a darkened Skye. The striped, grey-toned lapine sipped iced coffee as he tried to get himself fully awake.

He'd been jolted from a deep sleep at nearly ten that night by his friend and fan, a lady fox, telling him that she was going to be up late helping their mutual friend Judy with something extremely important. Jack understood. The bunny police officer had been through so much. In an instant, she'd lost her partner and very best friend. It almost seemed like she wasn't even really allowing herself to feel it.

He could see it. He knew what it was like. Jack had needed serious help when he was a kit because he relentlessly pretended his mom and dad were just on a long trip. It was hard. It was just too hard to lose someone who had become a completely inseparable part of everyday life. Jack knew that it was never going to get easier. But, in so many cases, it just gets swept away by _living_. That's what happened with these things. That's just life.

One day you can't get out of bed because all you feel is the gaping hole left behind by the one who was taken away from you. Alone. Angry. Afraid. Falling.

Some days later, you simply have to get up and go help a friend or something because not _everyone_ was gone.

After that, the bills don't wait for you to fill the void. You go to work.

Work consumes your time, but in the same tick, it holds its foot in the door.

With that door open, friends show up to do the stuff you always liked to do. They aren't there just because of what happened. This was the stuff you always did before, and end up doing again. And you allow it. You're already at work. If you're working, it would be rude to say no, right?

And slowly… it all goes back to _mostly_ how it was. You don't forget. It always hurts, but you learn to live with the pain. The hurt becomes a scar, and you wear it every day. You see it in the mirror. You see it in your dreams. But, at the end of the day, it's only a mark of the past, and life goes on. Judy Hopps would be okay. Skye would be too.

Jack was glad he had been there for Skye. It was shocking to him how hard it hit her. He had assumed the two foxes were sworn enemies when he first met the vixen in Nick's apartment. They fought bitterly and the buck was sure he would end up blood-splattered in Nick's apartment over it.

But so much changed so quickly. After that terrible day, Skye kept telling the buck that she had been blind to who Nick _really_ was. The con-artist fox needed help, not judgement, and she could have done more. It was too soon. Nick needed more time. Foxes like him didn't have enough time. None of it was fair. It was completely wrong. This couldn't be happening. She wanted to talk to him just one more time.

It was painful to see his vixen friend like that. But, she _was_ getting better. She helped Judy. She had befriended the officer who lost her partner. She made arrangements with management so that the grieving doe could stay in the apartment. It would be transferred to the smaller officer's name without a problem. Seeing Skye's selflessness got the striped bunny's attention more than anything else she could have ever done.

Jack had money.

Jack had fans.

Jack had fame.

He had all those things, but he valued one thing more than anything else. Altruism. Selflessness. His parents had been philanthropists and donated a lot of money and time to worthy causes. Their plane went down as they were heading to Fenrir for a conference on blocking an unbalanced law. It would require mammals who had committed felonies to wear ear-tags to identify (and thus publicly humiliate) them. As a result of this monumental loss, Jack valued sacrifice for the good of others.

Skye had given herself a concussion the day of the tragedy because she slammed her car, her pride and joy, into a billboard to save mammals that she barely knew. Darmaw, an angry deer with a grudge against the ZPD, was firing Nighthowler pellets at elephants at a festival, and she intervened without hesitation. The fox sacrificed her most valuable possession and nearly her own life to help save others.

And oh how Jack noticed.

He promised himself that he'd never forget. He would be there for Skye any time she needed him, especially in these difficult days.

The buck shook his head and focused on the mammal who had just bustled into the small meeting room.

"Okay, so why _this_ change?" Jack inquired patiently, holding up the blue-bound script. "I think it was a sweet scene. This makes Arthur seem cold to Yanni." The heavyset raccoon flailed a bit. In his odd-colored tweed suit he looked like some kind of 70's lounge couch.

"Arthur _is_ cold! He's a bodyguard! Everything's business!" the procyanid replied intently.

Jack crossed his arms, looking sharp and angular in the black turtleneck shirt and slacks of his "Arthur" character. "Not two scenes before this one, he was holding her in his arms after her family _died_ in that burning wreck. We've already established by this point that he's got a _heart_. I just don't think it's really in his character that he'd _shout_ at her about her past ties to Remi literally the _next day_. Not in anger. Even if he's cold, she's still his client and that's … not good business." The bunny sighed. Was he being too sensitive right now? Was he inserting himself into the character? Arthur was the hero of this story, and the scene change made him look like a colossal tool, but that was a _character_. It wasn't Jack. Still, the buck knew his fans would absolutely hate it.

"Look…" The raccoon rubbed his temples a little. "I get what you're saying, but the writer was pretty adamant about not baiting the audience about the relationship too early. This is before the thirty minute mark. I'll talk to them about softening the scene, but Arthur needs to create that distance. It's part of his character. He doesn't let folks in. That's who he is. He's dark and mysterious. He's got a past. He's been wounded before."

"Yeah, Jeffery, he has," Jack replied. "And that's why he has every reason to at least be sensitive to the pain Yanni is feeling. Him more than any of her vapid little friends." The actor thumped the fat script that had, in his opinion, been damaged by too many late changes. A lot of scripts suffered from what Jack called 'Bad Trim'.

"I'll… I'll see about getting the writers to re-tool the scene… but we gotta shoot it by tomorrow, or we risk over-running the budget this month. Please consider that."

"I'm not saying sit on everything. We have like… eight other scenes we can work on," Jack informed. "Set us up for one of those. We have options. I'm gonna refresh my coffee." The buck held up his nearly empty cup and padded out. The tendency of writers, producers, and everyone in between changing their vision of a film in the process of making it was an endless headache for Jack, but he had more or less gotten used to it as a matter of course.

The bunny moved over to a long table that was about nose-height to him. There were snacks, cookies, coffee, scones and other goodies laid out for the actors and the crew. Standing by the table he found two large, strong-looking wolves dressed in black shirts and black slacks.

The white wolf was the one talking. "... sweet deal, I can't say that enough. Look at this. Every day. They have treats every day. Must be nice. I thought actors like… ate nothing but lettuce or something to keep their figure and everything."

"Gary!" hissed the other wolf.

"... Did you see the sandwiches yesterday? Stacked like double-decker buses!" he laughed.

"Gary!" The other wolf pointed at Jack. The buck stood behind the white lupine with his ears back, relaxed.

"Hey guys."

"Oh, hi! Sir. Jack. Uh, Mr. Savage. Sir." The white wolf backed away from the table quickly. "We weren't nibbling, I promise, just talking about… the uh… the layout. Security stuff."

Jack spoke casually. "Certainly. Please, help yourselves. It's not just for the actors. Every mammal here is a part of the end result. The refreshments are for everyone."

"Really?" came the incredulous response of the grey toned canine.

"Seriously. Just… go easy on them. As Gary said, they are pretty decadent." The white wolf sucked in a tense breath at having his own name spoken by the 'star'. It was okay. Most mammals on set relaxed after a few days. Jack continued, "We don't get a lot of time to stop and eat on a busy film schedule. We need energy, so a lot of calories are packed into this stuff." The bunny took a scone.

"Allow me, Sir," offered the grey wolf. He refilled Jack's coffee.

"Black, please," the buck stated.

"Certainly."

"You are?" asked the buck.

"Larry. That's Gary, as you heard. Would've said hi much earlier, but you missed a few days on set." The other canid nodded at that.

"Yes. I did." Jack took a bite of his scone. It was cherry. He liked that. "I had some personal things I was dealing with." The bunny heard wailing sirens in the distance. It only reminded him of what had kept him from work those days. An emergency in the park. A missing mammal. A devastated friend. A spiritually wounded bunny doe trying to cope. Some of the city was in mourning. A larger part of it was tied up in the intrigue of the terrible plot of Darmaw.

Oddly, instead of being a single set of sirens going by, suddenly there were others. More and more. It seemed like half the city was full of police sirens to his sensitive bunny ears. Jack took a deep breath. Oh yes. That. It was the funeral. They were paying their respects. That suddenly sapped a lot of the bunny's energy. He knew Skye was there. She said she would be. How was she doing? Was she hurting? He wanted to be there with her, but they both knew that the distraction and media attention it would create would be unfair to Nick's family and friends. Jack went to work.

"It's hard to keep from howling with all that…" Gary said, breaking the bunny from his thoughts.

"You do it and you're sleepin' on the couch," Larry grumbled darkly.

"Nick Wilde's funeral," announced Jack, pushing the wolves for reverent silence. He had been a good fox. Like Skye said… it was too soon. He really had needed more time. The city needed more officers like him.

"Oh yeah, that… that was today, huh?" asked Gary, rubbing his white snout. "That's so harsh. It's good to see the city pullin' together and bein' supportive. You know. After being divided so hard before."

"Shh." Larry made it clear that Jack wanted it to be quiet a moment.

A good five minutes of sirens passed, and then faded out as Jack morosely listened to them. _Goodbye, brave fox. Thank you for all you've done. I wish I had gotten to know you a little better. You will be missed by many, but by another bunny most of all._ Jack closed his eyes as the sound died away.

"You met him, right? Someone here said that. You knew him and his partner?" asked Gary in barely above a whisper. Larry punched his arm.

"No, it's alright…" Jack looked up. "I didn't know him that well. Just a few days. But someone like that… he leaves an impression, y'know? And I have a close friend, Skye… she knew him. She took it hard. I took time off for her."

"I see…" Larry nodded understandingly. "You knew him from like… fundraisers and security detail and stuff?" It was obvious to Jack that the grey wolf was trying to shift the conversation to be more technical to lighten the mood.

Jack shook his head and smiled. "Actually, I got into a fight with some pretty bad mammals in a home invasion at Wilde's apartment a week or so ago. It was the event that caused the studio to hire you guys." It was hard not to smile thinking about it. What a mess that was! Still, they came out unscathed. However, only a day later… so many lives just fell apart. It wasn't fair. Nick was a hero. The hero should get to live.

"Wait. Seriously? You actually did the action movie thing for real?" asked Larry.

"Nah. Insane circumstances. I scrapped I guess, but that's really not me." Jack laughed. What a funny thought. Him actually going on some crazy adventure looking for trouble like one of his characters. But he'd done it. He fought. He didn't lie down and cry in fear. He saw what he thought was a fox kit get punted and he wrecked that wolf. A wolf. He fought a wolf. It was still like a dream in his head. What intense insanity Judy Hopps' life had been wrapped in. The mess with Lionheart? The Bellwether thing… Darmaw? Was it really like that every day for her? He never thought a real mammal could live that way.

"So, wait… now that the dangerous part is over… are they gonna let us go?" Gary asked with a tone of worry in his voice.

"I doubt it," answered the buck with a smile. "After all the stuff that happened, if anything _else_ happened, there would be an insurance liability nightmare if the studio didn't at least supply some kind of constant security. So, long as you're on task, I am pretty sure you guys will make it to the end of shooting." Jack smirked at that.

He took a few more sips of his coffee while the wolves sampled pastries and coffee of their own. The conversation with his new site security crew distracted Jack from the frustrating re-do of his scene. It was nice to just… appreciate that the city was appreciating Nick.

After a few more minutes, the buck's phone began making noise. The song that crooned from its little speaker was Gazelle's 'Lick'.

"Shh," Jack warned his security detail not to talk. The funeral was probably over. He needed to give 100% of his attention to Skye now. Even shooting another scene would have to wait.

Jack took a deep breath, and then spoke, trying to sound soft and caring. "Hey, Skye. How'd it go?" He ignored the anxious expressions of the two wolves. They were obviously trying to decide if it would be ruder to stay and listen, or to bail out with their goodies in paw.

What Jack got from the other side of the phone immediately alarmed the smaller mammal.

There was a practically panicked fox on the other end. Cars were honking. It was so loud. That was not the kind of funeral Jack was used to it all. He tried to focus on what she was saying.

"... can't believe it! It's insane! _She's insane!_ Jack, she's crazy! How?! How does that even happen!? He…" there were honking horns, someone yelling about cameras. There was the sound of tires squealing in a parking lot. Jack's eyes widened more and more. What was going on? Was there trouble? Couldn't the world just give that fox his peace?!

"Skye! Skye, calm down, I can't hear! What's happening?" The wolves traded concerned glances.

"... running around like mice and Finnick was my ride, but he just left on an elephant! I squished him and he left! I'm stuck at the park! It's crazy!" Skye was cut off again by an engine revving and someone shouting at someone else to move their truck. "… nuts! The whole thing's insane! I need help, Jack! I have to get to…" There was cheering. It sounded like Skye was at a championship sports event, not a somber gathering to mark the passing of a sorely missed mammal. The buck began breathing faster, dread filling him.

"Wait, hold on, Finnick left you? Skye, are you okay?!" He looked up at Larry who was clutching his paper cup dangerously tight with his claws.

"I'm okay!" yelled the fox on the other end of the line, "Oh my God. They're okay. Everyone's _okay_!" The last part was practically screamed. Jack was horrified. Skye didn't sound right. Not for everything going on. The buck had been taking care of her. She was getting better. She didn't seem at risk of actually _losing_ it. Maybe the funeral had been too much.

"Where are you, Skye!? I'm coming to pick you up!" Was she at a sports bar or something? Had she wandered off during the funeral? He needed to get to her fast. Foxes were not well treated if they had to be picked up for disturbing the peace, and he knew it.

"...can meet you in front of the park. I'll be by the gate. Please hurry!" shouted Skye. "I can't believe that…" There was the sound of a helicopter overhead and more sirens. The phone disconnected. Jack stood there with a look of stunned fear. He didn't know what was going on, but she needed him. She called him because she needed him.

He promised himself. He promised he'd take care of her.

Jack was _never_ going to break that promise.

He snapped his attention to the white wolf, still clutching his coffee. "Gary, I need you to drive me somewhere," the bunny stated resolutely, making the security wolf jump slightly. "Larry, I need you to let Jeffrey know I will be back as quick as I can."

Larry gestured a bit. "What should I tell him?" he asked.

"Let him know a friend needs my help. It's not negotiable. I took security detail with me. He'll want to know that." Jack turned on his heel and strode out purposefully, Gary fast behind him.

"I don't have a car, Sir!" the wolf called back. "… got repossessed while we were uh… between jobs."

"You're driving the limo." Jack exited the front door of the studio and made his way to the valet. The puffy ewe jumped to attention and went to get his vehicle.

"What about your driver?" asked Gary.

"They pulled my driver after my little 'incident' at Wilde's apartment. To keep me from 'wandering off' again." Jack made a mess for himself with that one. The dangerous mammal responsible for that had been stopped, in part by the vixen that Jack was now rushing to help. She sounded so freaked out. Was she scared? Had someone else already gotten to her? He should have been with her at the funeral! How stupid!

"Am I… gonna get in trouble for this?" Gary asked.

"No. Here we are…" The lady sheep pulled up in a gleaming black car and got out, bowing pleasantly to Jack. It was not a stretch limo, the buck preferring something a bit more standard for his travels. He smiled and pushed a ten into her hoof. The keys were handed to the wolf who got in and adjusted the seat. The vehicle was sized for a medium driver, comfortably up to the size of the canine who got in and buckled up.

"Gimme a sec. Used to driving a truck." He started up the vehicle and Jack hopped into the back, sitting on the single back seat and facing forward, able to see Gary since the divider-window was lowered.

"Please be okay…" Jack whispered to himself as he buckled in.

"Where are we going? The park, you said? Front of it?" Gary clarified.

"Yeah. City Hall side of it. Main gate," Jack puffed, trying to catch his breath. He figured the producer and director might have some choice words for him, but he didn't care. Not right now.

In a matter of minutes, the car was speeding down the highway from the Meadowland district to City Center. Jack clutched his seat belt at his shoulder, able to feel his heart hammering. He had to get there in time. As he sat in silence, the wolf turned on the radio. He likely wanted to distract the tension with music. An announcer's voice rang out over the radio.

"... still missing the full details, but we are getting somewhat confusing information due to the absolute chaos at the funeral of Officer Nicholas Wilde..."

"Whoa… Oh no." Gary said darkly. Jack's guts tumbled inside him.

"What?!" shouted the buck, "Turn it up! Turn it up!" The wolf did that, the announcer blaring through the radio much louder.

"... this comes after a bizarre report from the Palm Market area where unsubstantiated claims were made of a serious disturbance... We are still trying to obtain video from the scene… one moment… Yes… Yes, we have a reporter on scene with WPAW, Channel 9 news affiliate - joining us on the phone. Eric, can you hear me?" Jack's chest hurt. Something happened. Was it not over? Was this terrible thing not over?! What else could they do?! The bunny immediately feared for Judy's safety. She killed Darmaw. Did someone want revenge?

"... Yes, Alicia, I can hear you."

"Go ahead, Eric; what's going on out there."

Jack could hear murmuring and some yelling. It sounded like where Skye was.

"Drive faster," the actor anxiously hissed. His fear was no mere performance, however. It wasn't over. So much had been taken from the city. They were not gonna get his friend. He promised.

The wolf spoke in a shaky tone. "This has something to do with what's on the radio, doesn't it? There's trouble and we're going there?" Jack just nodded.

He'd be there for her.

Gary floored it, whipping past a truck on the highway.

The reporter on the other end of the phone with the radio announcer finally spoke. "Yes, sorry, I'm still attempting to get more details, but I will say, I was here in person when Police Chief Bogo made a _startling_ announcement."

"What? Just tell us what's going on, geeze!" Jack pulled his ears down painfully.

"Does this corroborate the earlier unsubstantiated report?" asked Alicia.

"What report?!" shouted Jack, lurching a little as Gary dodged a blindly merging motorist.

"It does, Alicia. Chief Bogo announced that Officer Nicholas Wilde has been found by his partner, Judy Hopps." Jack sucked in a hard breath. Finally... after so many days. And everyone else gave up. They said he might have even gone out into the ocean. They said he'd never be found. Judy never stopped searching. She found him.

"Hey, that's good news, yeah?" asked Gary warily, mostly focusing on the road as he sped toward their destination. Jack was too frozen by shock at the news to even nod.

"And the other part of the claim?" asked Alicia. Jack held his breath. What _other_ part? Wait, how did Judy find Nick? Wasn't she _at the funeral_?

There was a pause for some noise in the background. It sounded like someone was trying to ask the reporter questions and he was covering his phone to tell them he was live. Finally, he managed to get back on to give an answer to the announcer.

"Ye, Alicia. The chief confirmed that Officer Wilde was found _alive_."

"Huh!?" huffed Gary in the front. "What did he just say?" Jack couldn't even let out the breath he'd been holding. He was paralyzed. This was… this was _impossible_. He slumped back in his seat, a cold rush of excitement billowing through him like a winter gale. He'd just misheard that part, right?

"This came directly from the chief of police?" asked Alicia.

"That is correct. For the moment, that's about all the information we have to go on. I've talked to a couple other ZPD officers and it's caught them equally by surprise. According to our best source on the scene, Nick Wilde _has_ been rescued by his partner. I will call back when I have more details."

"Oh… Oh my God…" squeaked Jack, finally releasing his ears and grabbing his muzzle. "Alive? He's _alive_?" The buck tingled all over. This changed little for Jack _directly_ , but he could not help but appreciate that it _completely_ changed the entire world for someone very important to him.

"That… That's what they said!" barked Gary excitedly. "You know him yeah? He's your friend? That's awesome!" he barked. The wolf then corrected as he'd kind of drifted from his lane while looking in the rear view mirror at his friend.

Jack lurched again involuntarily from that. "Oh! Hey, slow down! We don't need to go fast. I… I thought Skye was in trouble but… But she wasn't freaking out because something bad happened…" The bunny laughed, slapping the seat beside him and wiping his eyes with his sleeve. "Haha! Ha! Oh, Skye! Judy! You lucky mammals!" The car slowed down considerably.

"How has he been _alive_ this long?" asked Gary. "I mean… those waters were from glacier melt! He can't have lived in that. They said so!"

"I-I-I don't know!" Jack stammered, "I guess… we just keep listening for details? But… Hell _yeah_!"

"There's a bit of heavy traffic," expressed the wolf. "There's news vans showing up and stuff… I'm trying to get around them…" Jack could see the gates ahead. He rolled down his window and looked out, unbuckling his seat-belt and getting onto his knees in the car window to have a better field of view. "Oh hey, careful Mr. Savage! I gotta get you back un-flat!"

His mind was spinning. He needed to know more. Skye might know more than even the reporter did. Suddenly, Finnick leaving the vixen made a _lot_ more sense. His friend was alive. He probably didn't even think. The little fennec probably just about lost his head. It was understandable. He would forgive the smaller fox this time. The car stopped. Gary waited patiently for vans and such to move out of the way. They might not be going anywhere for a while.

"Jack!" came a cry off to the other side. The bunny jumped to the other window and opened it more than it had been. The moment it was down he was slammed to the other side of the seat and against the door behind Gary by the sudden presence of a vixen jumping right through the open window. Jack gave an excited squeak at being tackled by the justifiably excited fox. He completely forgot about how that might look to his driver.

"Sir!" cried the wolf, his voice panicked. "Get off of him! Now! Let go!" Gary reached back and snagged Skye by her scruff, the fox crying out in slight surprise. He gave Skye a vigorous shake.

"Oh no!" Jack cried, having not even considered that his guard would be that quick to save him from an assailant. "No, no! It's alright, this is her! This is who we're here to get!" Jack laughed. Skye was released, slumping back over the re-pinned striped rabbit. She shrunk back, however, perhaps realizing how startling that might have been to the driver. It was understandable. She just got some crazy news.

"Geeze, lady!" Gary laughed nervously and then resumed trying to navigate the chaotic traffic. "That was quite an entrance!" Skye shook her paws like they were on fire, barely able to contain her excitement.

"Jack, Oh my God, he's alive! He's alive, he's alive, he's alive! Judy saved him! He's not dead! And I helped!" The vixen bounced a little, her ice blue eyes fixed on her bunny friend, wide and frantic. "We have to get to the hospital!"

"Slow down, Skye!" Jack laughed. It flooded his heart with joy to see her so happy after… how hard the last week or so had been. "First, we don't even know what hospital they went to, and second, what do you mean you helped her? Was he found at the funeral or something? I still know almost nothing about what's going on," he explained. Skye said she would be at the funeral, so how had she been able to help?

The lady fox bounced in the seat again. "No, like… early this morning! I helped Judy break into the DEC! That's where she found Nick! I don't know how she knew, but that's where she went!"

"Wait, hold on… you… You broke into… a secure, controlled, sensitive government works facility?" asked Jack with a squeak of dread in his voice. Shit. Not good.

Gary began chanting loudly. "La la la la la la-"

Skye took a quick breath, trying to calm herself. "I know it sounds crazy, but Judy knew he was there. Somehow she knew! But we thought she was just recovering his body! That's why she knew the city wouldn't open it up to look for him there even if she said he might have ended up in there. That's what she said."

"How, exactly… did you two break into the DEC?" Jack asked warily.

"We used a jackhammer and tore open the wall," Skye answered frankly.

"LA LA LA LA LA LA LA-"

"Gary, quit it!" the buck ordered. "Skye, you don't talk about this to anyone. If you need my lawyer he's at your disposal. And who is we? You and Judy?"

"And Finnick."

"Of course." Jack leaned back in his seat. Of course it would be more complicated than just Nick being found. Even _that_ had to be some absolute insane incident.

"Look, Judy says she'll leave me and Finnick out of it. I trust her. And besides, that's not even the freaking point! Nick's alive! We have to go see him and Judy! I have to know they're gonna be okay!" There was a level of desperation in her voice that reminded Jack that if the officers were both taken to the hospital there was no way to know how bad Nick was hurt without actually going and talking to someone there.

"Gary, see if you can get back on the road. I'm gonna try getting in contact with someone who might be able to help find out what hospital Nick and Judy ended up going to." The wolf carefully worked his way into a roundabout. With a bit of patience and a watchful eye on a passenger he knew was not even supposed to leave the studio, Gary managed to get back to driving. Jack watched out the window. It was absolute pandemonium outside the car. While his arrival might have gotten a lot of attention and gawking, no one seemed to notice him at all.

"What made Judy look for him down there?" inquire the bunny buck as he pulled his phone out to find the right mammal to call.

Skye answered, having gotten her excited panting in check. "I'm not sure of all the details. Someone told her he could be there. She only called him an unnamed source." Jack had not minded the panting, of course. Watching her pink tongue bouncing as she attempting not to hyperventilate was kind of cute. Cute was appealing to his bunny sensibilities. Jack felt consumed in a kind of delighted excitement he had not felt since his parents had been alive. Such a crazy and happy thing had happened. It was something reality had seen that he remained woefully unaccustomed to.

Jack dialed the number and got nothing.

"Who're you trying to call?" pressed the white vixen as she scooted her hip back against the buck's. He wordlessly relished the contact. The vixen was very likable.

"Detective Pawlander. I have his personal cell number because of the whole Darmaw mess."

"That's the one with the white fur, right?"

"Hey, I know him!" called Gary. "I mean. Because… reasons." He gripped the steering wheel and just focused on driving. Skye looked up at him curiously, then back down to Jack, who was attempting to call again.

This time, the call connected.

"Hey, who's this?" The reply was short and exasperated.

"Jack Savage," the bunny answered.

"So, hey, I'm gonna need to get back to you," explained the other wolf, "We have a very big situation."

"Does it involve foxes?" Jack verbally mused.

"It involves _a_ fox, yes," returned Pawlander. "Clawhauser, pull yourself together! Trunkaby, help him with the phones, please?"

"I'm calling concerning that fox, actually. What hospital has he been taken to?" Skye tensed up anxiously.

"I don't think you showing up will make it any easier to keep the media back. We still don't have all the details about this, Mr. Savage."

"He's a _friend_ , Jules," the bunny said firmly.

"You know how many _friends_ that fox probably has right about now?" asked the wolf on the other end of the phone. "This is the most significant media focus a fox has gotten since that God-awful music video in the 90's." Skye buried her muzzle in the crook of her arm to stifle the laughter.

Jack broke through his friend's reaction. "I can quietly go myself and be inside before the media arrives, or I can just openly catch a ride with ZNN the moment they figure it out. But I _am_ going."

"Damnit, Jack. Whatever. He's being taken to Palms Memorial. Just don't make a scene! And if you interfere, you will be standing outside with the news trucks, got it?"

"Got it! thanks, Jules!" The buck hung up.

"I know where that is, I'm heading there now," Gary offered quickly, taking the very next exit on the highway.

"I wish I knew more," Skye fretted.

"I'm still reeling, honestly. How? How could he survive trapped down there? It's been a whole week. He fell in glacial melt. He should have been dead in an hour."

"Foxes are annoyingly resilient," the vixen obviously bragged. Jack laughed at that and the car continued down the highway.

In less than twenty minutes, they had parked in a covered parking deck outside the towering Palm Memorial Hospital. Jack tried to get more information from Skye about the situation that led to Judy breaking into the DEC. Skye only knew as much she'd already revealed. Jack laughed about tiny Finnick being forced to use a shovel too, and Gary promised he would not discuss anything that was said or done in the car while he was with Jack. It was explained that it fell under the non-disclosure agreement he and Larry had signed. It wasn't, but they didn't really know that.

Jack leaned up to the driver's side window after he got out. "I need you to wait here as long as you can. I don't want to be stranded here at the hospital. Are you okay with chilling out here for a while?"

"Sure, I guess. If Larry and I aren't already fired for letting you slip out of the studio, I don't think me waiting for you will make much difference." He sounded genuinely concerned.

"If they fire you, I'll hire you, how about that?" asked Jack.

"Both of us?" he asked, his voice lifting.

"Sure," responded Jack genuinely.

"You have a wolf in waiting, then, sir!" Gary jovially barked.

Skye and Jack hurried to the garage entrance of the hospital. The parking deck was confusing, as if it had been designed to make sure escaped patients from their psychiatric ward didn't have a chance to get off property.

Skye spoke cheerily as they walked briskly to another elevator bank. "That was nice of you to offer him a job if you got him canned. Do you do that often?"

"Believe it or not, while I am an action star, my life outside of the silver screen has always been pretty mundane. I have a strict and often boring schedule to keep. You have been the most fun I have had in years. You and Nick and Judy."

"I… I really appreciate that, Jack."

They walked into the hospital and found it to be alarmingly… quiet. Of course, the lobby of a hospital was supposed to be quiet. Mammals who were hurt or sick didn't like loud sounds. Jack moved over to the receptionist's desk and asked about Nick. The receptionist told Jack that emergency arrivals did not get logged into the system right away, so he would have to check again later. The little ermine at the desk had obviously not yet learned of Nick's survival, so she began texting immediately.

"That's not… gonna help keep a low profile, I guess." Skye murmured.

"It's alright. Other officers will probably show up, so we'll know more then, I guess."

"There's one." The vixen pointed at a very large Bengal tiger. He looked anxious and was going back and forth between desks, talking to mammals and appearing to make something of a nuisance of himself based on the expressions of the mammals he spoke with.

Jack moved quickly over to the tiger and spoke, getting his attention. "You here for Nick?"

"News gets out that fast, huh?" asked the feline, before he backpedaled a little. "Woah, wait… Jack Savage?"

"Yep. How's he doing? Have they told you anything?"

"How do you even know Nick's here? It's not a thing we're broadcasting."

"We're his friends." Jack shrugged, actually enjoying saying it.

The tiger officer took a deep breath, obviously trying to calm his own nervousness. "Well, he's got a broken leg at least. He was a real mess too, so they gotta get him cleaned up. The paramedics both said that his chances look really good though."

"I take it Judy's staying with him?" Skye asked, her voice lilting with happiness at the news that Nick would likely be okay.

"Huh? Oh no, she's been taken to another operating room. She's gonna need some work too."

"What?!" yelped Skye. The tiger shushed her, glancing around furtively at the other mammals in the waiting room. Mostly they just looked irritated at the loud noise.

"Judy was injured? How?" asked the bunny in more of a whisper.

The officer shrugged. "Not sure. Somewhere between ripping open a couple feet of concrete to get into the DEC half a mile under the city, and then beating the guts of Zootopia into submission to get Nick back the surface and ripping a hole in the middle of Palm Street, she injured her arm or shoulder and got a nasty cut on her head. I'm sure it looked worse than it was, but it can't have been nice."

"Oh no…" Skye whimpered. "I should have stayed to help her."

"What?" asked the tiger.

"Last night!" interrupted Jack. "Skye was helping Judy… you know… coping and the like, at Nick's apartment." He did _not_ want his friend implicated in a crime. Foxes were not reasonably treated in the court system. "You had to sleep though, Skye. You know you had to sleep before the funeral." She looked down and nodded. She clearly understood what the buck was doing.

She spoke softly again, "I hope she's okay. If she's not with Nick and she's hurt, she's gonna be so scared."

"Judy? Scared? You sure you guys are her friends?" laughed the tiger. Skye laughed weakly, but Jack understood. Judy might not show fear in the face of an assailant ten times her size, but nothing had ever caused her more harm than this last week.

"I'm gonna try to see if I can get an officer posted outside whatever room Nick ends up in," explained the officer.

"Wait, do you think there's still some kind of threat to him?" asked Jack.

"No, I just don't handle unanswered curiosity well," he replied, fidgeting.

"Right," Skye answered with a grin.

That left the fox and bunny lingering in the waiting room together on their own for about half an hour. Jack got them both a lime soda. They took turns showing one another social media reactions to the news. Most of it was heartwarming, but a few opted to tease about the ridiculousness of it. They both immediately stopped looking, however, upon discovering a Chitter posting that showed a single picture of an utterly blood-soaked bunny clutching her fox on the edge of a burst open hole in the street. They had seen enough.

They decided instead to just find comfort in one another's company and wait to find out more as they watched more and more mammals begin whispering and checking their phones about the happy news. In between his happiness that Skye was again so full of life and the thought that he'd not truly lost his other vulpine friend, Jack felt a swelling of pride for a city that rallied behind the good news as if Nick and Judy had been a part of everyone, and they were sharing eagerly in what happiness the salvation of Nicholas Wilde meant to his brave, determined partner. There may never be a better case for never losing hope than this seemingly impossible incident.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note:**

 _Jack gets to share in one of the most elated and joyful moments of Skye's life. He couldn't be happier to join her on this part of her journey, and after they check on their friends they are left with an opportunity to spend some close and personal time together. All that remains to be seen is just how close and personal that will be!_

 _ **If you are just joining this series for the first time**_ _this story is in the continuum AFTER Season 1, chapter 25, so you will definitely want to read Thanks for the Fox and Guardian Blue: Season One for important context! As an intimate story, however, this can still be enjoyed on its own. A new reader will just have to assume some of the backstory._

 _I do not own these characters, I just have a blast writing about them. Kudos to Disney for creating a world I that I dropped half my brain into and never intend to get it back._

 _This is an adults-only entry! Read on at your discretion._

 **Gratitude**

 _Chapter 2: Stay_

"I'm gonna try to get more info from the tiger on what's going on with Judy. Just go _talk_ to her," Jack insisted as he watched his lovely vulpine companion fidget. They had been hanging out in the hospital waiting area for nearly an hour, eager for any news on their friends. Jack was glad that he was here with Skye. She really needed a friend right then. The anxiousness was agonizing.

While the news they'd been given was really good, there was no denying that the vixen was suffering from the slingshot effect. It was stress caused by the subconscious expectation that things can't possibly be as good as they seem. Skye went back and forth between excitedly talking about how happy Judy must be, to near nauseated from worry that there would be some complication and that one or both of her friends were in worse condition than what they'd already been told. Jack was there to help his foxy friend through this. The white vulpine gazed across the waiting area at a red vixen in a black dress and crimson scarf, ticking away at her phone, ears back in focus and apparently oblivious to anything else. She looked exasperated. Jack certainly couldn't blame her. Her son just got brought back from the _dead_.

"She doesn't even know me, Jack… And she's going through so much..." Skye gazed down at the lapine apprehensively.

"It's going to make things more chaotic for her if I go over there and talk with her. It's okay. You're a friend. She'll be glad you're here. Go." Skye nodded finally and slowly padded toward the other fox. Jack moved over to try to talk with Fangmeyer, but spotted Pawlander who had just arrived. He felt it was likely that, given his history with the white wolf, he'd be more likely to get genuine information from him. The waiting area was much more hectic than before, but it didn't look like anyone from the press had arrived just yet. The news had made it to the hospital itself that Nick Wilde was found alive. Most mammals had their phones out, but he didn't see indications that anyone knew he was at that exact hospital. Jack was actually pretty surprised at how much it mattered to so many mammals that were checking out the news.

"What? What are _you_ doing here?" Pawlander asked predictably. "This place is about to be loaded with press. _You_ will want to be anywhere but here, Mr. Savage."

"I know. I wanted to know if you have any information about Nick and Judy. They looked… rough." He referred of course to the image he saw on Chitter. Who would even post that? She looked not only like she'd been through literal hell, but actively suffering too. She appeared to have been literally screaming in that image. It was actually traumatic to see that brave, strong bunny doe like that. Nick looked like he'd barely survived in that image. Jack couldn't even imagine her emotional state right then. She'd been nearly broken, and then… to find him alive?

She had to have felt joy. Surely she was proud to find him, but… did she feel angry? Betrayed? The whole city stopped looking. They gave up on Nicholas Wilde and she found him alive. If she hadn't…

"I - what? Who told you Hopps was… Okay, sure. You know what? That checks out. You and that crazy bunny." He rolled his eyes.

"No." Jack's ears fell back. "We're friends. And I'm concerned about my _friends_ , detective." The buck glared up at the much larger canid. He did not want to start _that_ kind of rumor. There was an exclamation from the red fox nearby and Jack jerked his focus in that direction. Bunny ears were sensitive.

"Oh yes! You squashed Finnie!" she laughed. Then she cried. Then Skye cried. Then they hugged. Okay, that was going fine. He turned his attention back to Pawlander.

"That's Nick's mom," the wolf explained.

"I know. Skye there is my friend, she's offering her support." He indicated the other lady fox.

The white wolf nodded slowly. "Well, back to your question, Hopps is a mess, but she'll be okay. They said she has a concussion. Again. Also, she messed up her shoulder. Again. It's worse this time. I suspect being Judy Hopps' friend is probably pretty scary." The canid seemed absolutely genuine at that. It irked the lapine a little, but he supposed that no harm was meant by it. That doe was so far over the top that she might never come down.

"They said she found him in the DEC? What's that?" Jack intended to feign ignorance.

"It's a sealed chamber under the city," answered the wolf. "Seriously, how the hell did she even get in?" he asked.

"I guess we have to wait for her to say. I'm glad she's okay. Heard anything new about Wilde?" the rabbit asked.

"Finnick!" called Skye. The little fox had just entered. If he had found the place, the media would be here soon. The tiny vulpine made a beeline for the other foxes. Jack chuckled. It was hard not to. The first time he met the gruff fennec fox, he thought he was Nick and Judy's kit! It was laughably impossible but, seeing them all together with Judy's mom holding him, he just… immediately bought it. Finnick was tough for a little guy. That insanity was immediately part of the indelible mark that Judy and Nick had both left on him. The fennec matched the whole picture those two painted together. Skye, who crashed her muscle car into a billboard and nearly killed herself to shut down an armed attacker belonged in that whole mix too. They were inextricable.

"Huh… I recognize that little guy..." murmured Pawlander, snapping Jack out of his musing.

"So, Wilde, have you heard about Wilde's condition?" He didn't want to have the wolf go over there and harass the fox's friends.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, he's looking like he'll be okay, but wow… Can you imagine? He thought we weren't coming. He thought no one was going to find him. He's got a busted leg and he was trapped and it was dark. Can. You. Imagine? I don't envy Bogo right now. If I were him, I'd be scared to death of that bunny."

"I would rather not try to be in either of their positions, honestly. I'm… I'm glad he's gonna be okay. He's a great mammal." Jack swiveled a tall lapine ear back to Skye's conversation again, as the fox's mother spoke a little louder, sounding urgent.

"She's fine, I promise! I just talked to her doctor, that deer lady." Jack looked up again. Nick's mom was talking to a pair of rabbits.

Oh! Judy's family was here too. He thought they had gone back to Bunnyburrow, but they got here way too fast to have been there. They didn't even make it back home before Judy broke the news cycle again. With that considered, he felt like he really needed to get out of there before the reporters arrived.

"Sir, sir, do you know anything about the condition of the bunny officer and her partner?" Jack looked quickly in the direction of a beaver with a microphone and the striped buck pushed himself nearly entirely behind a huge, fluffy potted fern.

The wolf detective sighed. "...and here they come. Yeah, hide in the potted plants. I'm gonna need to deal with this." Pawlander joined Fangmeyer in heading off the first of the reporters. Jack lost sight of Skye, but she was not in the lobby that he could see.

She and Finnick were gone. So was Vivienne, and so were Judy's parents. Good. They must have gone up to see the fox and bunny upstairs. Jack made his way to the exit and out to the garage. He sent a text to Skye stating that he'd wait for her in the car. He didn't want to add to the troubles the police would have to deal with, but he also had no intention of leaving Skye, even if she was absolutely fine. She'd probably still need a friend after this, and he suspected Judy and Nick would be in the hospital all night.

"I got fired," stated Gary casually from the open window of the car where he was waiting.

"Welcome to life as my personal security detail, I guess?" Jack offered as he punched in another text and climbed into the car.

"My friend too?" he asked.

"Was he fired?" asked Jack.

"No, but we uh… we're kind of a pack, right? I mean, that means something us." The white wolf seemed stressed. Jack rubbed his chin. He didn't need two wolves. He ran around on his own mostly. He was pretty independent for a celebrity. Still, he did say he'd take them both. They couldn't be that much trouble, right? And he could have them run errands or something. It would be fine.

"Okay. I'll take you both. It's a deal. We'll work out all the details with it tomorrow. This is gonna be pretty different from your usual security detail so we need to all be on the same page with it." Jack finished sending his text message. The wolf in the driver's seat started sending one too, presumably for his friend.

Jack's phone almost immediately rang.

The very frustrated voice cut in before Jack could even greet the caller. "We have to shoot a scene today, Jack! What the hell, mate!?" One of the studio managers, if he could guess the voice. Was this the wallaby? The kangaroo rat? He couldn't remember. The faces changed so often at that level.

"Something came up," he answered simply.

"You texted that you were at the hospital. Without telling a damned soul here. You'd better be giving birth!" Jack bared his teeth slightly.

"Classy. I'm taking tomorrow off too," the buck stated flatly. He did not get bullied on set. It happened occasionally because he was a bunny, but most who worked with him regularly knew better. This mammal apparently knew nothing.

"What? Wait, Jack, hold on!" came the disembodied voice of reason. Jack hung up.

"Wow," Gary said. "Aren't you worried about you know… getting fired for that?" he asked.

"I'm reasonable. They aren't. They can try finding another bunny exactly like _me_ to finish shooting their movie or they can wait 48 hours." He leaned back. "Nick's gonna be fine. Judy too." he explained.

"I've met them. At work one time," Gary clarified.

"They are… pretty amazing," Jack chuckled.

"And you and the fox… that's a surprise," Gary said boldly.

"Wait, what? Skye?" asked Jack, immediately blushing. His ears didn't burn like that when Pawlander made the assumption about Judy.

"Well, yeah. It's okay though, right? I mean, the cross-species is something you're cool with, so I'm cool with it too, yeah?"

"Wait, we aren't… I mean, why do you think…?" Why was this flustering him?

"Oh, hey, that's right. Bunny nose versus wolf nose..."

"What?" Jack asked in a rising tone.

"Oh, hey, did you see the video of Officer Hopps breaking up through the street?" asked the wolf suddenly.

"What about noses?" Jack asked insistently. Was it _his_ scent Gary caught? He wasn't about to dismiss how much he liked Skye dive-tackling him in the back seat, but what if he meant Skye? Was it her? Did she like it too? Jack needed to know!

"Check this out…" Gary held up his phone. A video was playing. It appeared to be a live feed. There was a crowd in the park. It was the one that Jack had just left. There were all kinds of mammals. A large, elegantly framed picture of Officer Wilde in his dress blues was there as proof that it had been his memorial service. What caught the buck's attention, and what he was sure Gary had intended for him to see, was that where there had been lit candles all around the picture by way of somber ceremony, mammals had carefully rearranged them. Jack cupped his small muzzle and dropped back against the seat. They spelled out "Get Well Soon" around his memorial picture. Jack's need to know what the wolf had meant about scent was derailed instantly.

"Gary… this..." words died in the buck's throat. The wolf leaned back, looking over his seat at the bunny. Jack's eyes felt wet.

"This?" he pushed, still showing Jack the live video.

Jack shivered slightly and answered, "This... is the end of Bellwether's Zootopia."

The striped buck sat up eagerly as he caught with his sensitive bunny ears the rapid toe-claw clicking of a fox running up to the car. He opened the door to let her in rather than having her tackle him through the open window. She tackled him through the open door instead. This was a very joyful vixen!

"They're gonna be okay, Jack! Both of 'em are gonna be fine!" she squeaked. While Jack had been confident of this based off of what Pawlander told him, he felt like Skye needed to actually see to believe. Judy looked pretty rough in that picture, after all, and Nick looked dead in it.

"I'm so glad, Skye," Jack stated earnestly, sitting up a straighter in the back seat. He tried smelling her but his nose just wasn't great for it. Was it him? Was that what the wolf was smelling?

"Welcome back, Miss Skye!" chimed the wolf.

"Hey Gary!" came her sweet-toned voice. She was cute. It wasn't… a bad thing to consider. Wait, was he considering that? Oh goodness, Gary messed him up.

"Heading home?" the wolf asked.

The vixen looked back blankly. "I… Gosh, I dunno! I'm sorry, but I'm really… I can't even sit still, look at me!" She giggled. "I'd be insufferable to the apartment management. But, oh! Jack! You were recording today! You need to go back! I forgot! I totally forgot! Finnick was going to come get some dinner with us or something, but I guess he remembered you were supposed to be at the studio and I didn't!" she cupped her muzzle. "Oh, but you waited for over two hours for me!" The poor fox was so flustered. Jack took a breath and tried to calm her.

"It's alright. This is big for me too," Jack truthfully explained. He made a mental note to take Skye and Finnick both out soon, however, since they helped Judy get Nick back to the world of the living. The smaller fox deserved some recognition for that which didn't involve admitting to a crime.

"Vivienne took us to see Nick," Skye explained. "He's _so_ messed up on painkillers and stuff, but he's gonna be perfectly okay," the vixen expressed as she got belted in. "… oh but you should have seen, Jack. Oh goodness, he..."

"What's that?" the buck inquired as he fastened his own seat belt. He'd never seen Skye outside her mental faculties.

The vixen took a short breath and puffed before starting over. "So... he can't talk right now. Apparently he messed up his throat screaming. Screaming, Jack! That poor fox! But Judy saved him and… and..." She buried her face in her paws, sniffling. The bunny gazed at his vulpine friend with concern. She really was overwhelmed. Dropping her off at home absolutely wasn't happening in the short term. She needed time to process this.

Were foxes supposed to be this emotional? He put a smaller paw on her arm.

"And?" he pushed gently.

"He was using this… this marker board thing to talk. The nurses gave it to him. It was mostly stupid stuff. He told Finnick daddy was gonna be okay and … that was weird but… He was writing stuff to his mom about Judy. I… I shouldn't even _tell_ you what he was writing but he was, I mean I wasn't supposed to even see it, I bet! … Oh Jack, it was the most… There were… I..." She kept her muzzle hidden and her ears were bright pink inside. "I was totally not supposed to see any of that, but I absolutely cannot blame him. He's _alive_ because of her."

"I… I don't follow?" Jack stated softly.

"He loves her, Jack," Skye whispered, as if trying to keep Gary from hearing it.

"Wow," the wolf dropped, proving he did.

The lapine recoiled slightly at the proclamation. That was a very weighted accusation. Foxes and bunnies. It was hard not to feel in the spotlight because of how he found himself looking at the excited vixen, but it was unfair to assume things just because of... that. This wasn't about him. Right now, Skye's entire world was the joyful reunion of her friends. But, for the briefest of moments he thought of being held by the vixen, wrapped up in that tantalizing soft tail...

Jack forced himself to snap out of it. "I mean… yeah, she just saved him. He's got to be happy with her... but is it fair for us to read so much into it?" he asked warily. These kinds of discussions started rumors, and rumors ended friendships.

"No, it's… I promise you I'm not misunderstanding. Stuff he wrote on that whiteboard to his mom… He told her how he felt… Oh, I shouldn't even be _talking_ about it. It's really private. I had no idea, but I guess it shouldn't surprise me." She cupped her cheeks as if to hide a blush though soft white fur. Jack couldn't help but feel the desire to just hug her. He resisted, knowing again that this was not about him. She was just so adorable.

"I guess it's personal, yeah. But… his mom was okay with that? I mean… it's a pretty big deal, right?" he asked.

"I think so. She was crying, but she was crying from the minute she got into the room. She nodded a bunch and kept hugging him. I uh… I left so they could talk about that stuff. I had something to eat in the cafeteria and talked to Finnick, and then Judy's parents came, and then her mom said I could go see Judy. She uh… Judy said she was taking full responsibility for the DEC thing. My name won't come up."

Jack sighed heavily at that good news. "Do you think she… feels the same way about her fox?" he asked.

"You saw the same picture I did, Jack," Skye said in a serious tone.

Jack slumped a little, feeling silly. "Err… yeah. Dumb question I guess. So, I mean… if she lost her job over the DEC thing… She's got Nick. They're gonna be okay, I'm sure."

"You… You think they'll fire her? For saving Nick?" asked his friend incredulously. Her tone sank hard. Jack grimaced. He should not have brought that up. Skye helped her do it. She helped Judy possibly end her career.

"They… They could. She broke the law. More than one, I assume," Jack had to be realistic about that.

"Well, _that_ would be the worst PR move in the history of _ever_ ," Gary stated. Jack glanced back up to him. He had pulled out of the parking garage, but the bunny hadn't been given any instruction on where they were driving. The wolf continued, "The public largely forgave Lionheart, and they intentionally refuse to dwell on Bellwether to shut her out of Zootopian life… but firing Judy after _that_? You saw the candles. They'd burn the ZPD headquarters to the ground." Jack laid his ears back at that. It seemed maybe intended to be comically extreme, but the feelings swirling around about this, at least at present, were also nearly comically extreme.

"So Judy's doing okay, then? Was she in good spirits? Happy?" Jack asked. He wanted to bring it back to positive. It felt like so long since he'd even seen the other doe smile. When he first met her she was so energetic and full of life. The past week or so she'd seemed barely a step behind her partner. Jack worried about her.

Skye answered, "She's kind of weak but I think they have her on muscle relaxers. She messed up her shoulder. Her head's bandaged up."

The lapine looked out the window as they took a highway on-ramp. "This is not… a direction she expected her life to take so suddenly… getting Nick back. I hope she won't change because of it. She's a great bunny."

"Do I detect _affection_ , Jack Savage?" asked Skye playfully.

"What?" he asked, turning and peering at those ice-blue eyes. "What? No. Oh goodness no. I'd never sleep if I got romantically involved with _that_ bunny. Id be worried sick all the time. I'd be endlessly distracted. I'd be trying to do a fake action scene with fake weapons and everyone being as gentle as they could while Judy is probably doing the exact opposite that very moment!"

For some reason, Skye laughed at that. "You know their job isn't always like that, right?"

"She's proved multiple times that it can be! It's stressful just being her friend. Besides, I thought you wanted Nick to get the girl. Or, would it benefit a very lovely and eligible vixen if Judy were enamored with another?" Jack playfully grinned back at Skye. It was fun firing the accusation back at her, even if he was pretty sure he was absolutely wrong. She brought her muzzle closer, teeth showing. That sent a thrill through Jack, but he tensed at the realization that it wasn't fear.

"You don't know Nick like I do. His personality would, without the slightest doubt, cause me to lose my mind in a week." They both laughed. Jack got that impression pretty clearly, actually. Nick could be insufferable. Still, as he'd seen recently, Judy had a high tolerance to suffering for what she wanted. If she wanted Nick, they'd be fine.

"Oh… Gary, where are we going?" Jack asked, thinking he recognized the route.

"Home, sir. Seems a good place to relax and recover from a very exciting day. Toss back a few beers and the like." Jack's ears shot up. He was taking Skye home with him? He looked at her, worrying that she would feel that was entirely inappropriate.

She appeared elated.

The fox chimed brightly, "That sounds awesome. I can try not to lick all the bunny's awards and accolades!" she joked.

"You've already licked the bunny, so I'm not sure what harm it'd do," he teased back.

Skye gasped scandalously. "You don't get to tease. The bunny licked me back."

With a soft wirrrrrr the dark pane of glass that separated the driver from the back seat slowly went up.

"It's… I mean, I guess I thought a mansion, but this is honestly really nice, Jack." Skye peered out the windows as they pulled up to a two-story somewhat gothic-looking house. It was big for a single bunny, but certainly not overly opulent. Jack was accustomed to visiting other actors and seeing garishly posh living arrangements that were like some kind of weird lifestyle competition.

"It's where I grew up, Skye. I never moved when I became an actor," Jack explained.

"Wait… what?" the fox asked, leaning up to the window.

"This is my mom and dad's place. They were important, but certainly not a mansion-level important. While I have certainly made my place in the world, I like being here. It reminds me of them. Of how close and kind..." He stopped. He didn't want to bring the mood down again.

"Your dad was… a bunny, yes?" she asked.

"Yes. My mother was a striped hyena. Before you ask, no, it was not a natural pregnancy," he explained.

"I know. I saw the documentary. How do you feel about it?" she asked. Jack looked back, puzzled as Gary parked.

"About what? My own unusual origin story?" he asked.

"No… About… I mean… About predator and prey… Like Judy and Nick?" she asked.

Uh oh. He took a long, slow breath. It might be innocent. It might have nothing to do with him. He shouldn't read a bunch into it. It was an understandable question given that Nick and Judy were his friends too. Right. It wasn't directed at him.

"I support those kinds of relationships, obviously. Folks looking from the outside think… how novel. How exotic. But I look at other families and I see mine was not so different. Mom and dad loved each other. They didn't always get along, but no one does. But they loved enough to get through it. And they loved me like life itself and tried so hard to make sure I had the happiest life possible, like every single mammal should. A lot of mammals put weight on what they were, but they didn't care. They found joy in each other, and that's all that was ever going to matter," he explained.

"I'm… I'm sorry they didn't get so see how … I mean… You make so many people happy. And that's because how they guided you." Skye sounded so nervous as she said it.

"Here we are, boss," Gary interrupted. "Should I head back or wait here?"

"Choose a room," the bunny stated bluntly.

"What?' asked the wolf, utterly clueless.

"Having my driver off site is a pain. You get to stay here when you are on duty. Choose a room you like. We have several guest rooms. I stress that it's not forced living arrangements, but there will be times where I need to leave out at an annoying time and you will be glad of it. Consider it your office here." The bunny opened the door and helped Skye out of the car.

"W-what?" whimpered the wolf. Jack winced. He was used to dealing with folks in the business. These wolves were not. It might have seemed a little strange for him to offer that, even if, to Jack, it wasn't that odd at all.

He inhaled deeply and considered how to explain it casually. "Explore the guest rooms. Find a room you like. You get to stay there any time you are here, so that if I need you I can get moving quickly. If I am hiring _both_ of you, I need to know I can have security or transit whenever I need it."

"Oh wow." Skye murmured. Her tone pleased the bunny. He silently fretted about how much that warmed him.

"I… I mean… Okay, I will sir. Thank you." He got out of the car as well. Jack looked at the high roof and the gray melancholy that represented his home. It wes less emotionally weighted with his present company. He strode purposefully to the door and punched in the code.

"Oh… So you never worry about forgetting your keys," the fox stated. "And your password is the first six digits of Pi. Geeky." She crossed her arms and smirked at the buck. He snapped his attention to her. He hadn't really tried to hide the number being entered but he was silently impressed that she picked up the pattern so fast. That's exactly what it was.

He opened the door and murmured softly, "Alopexa, Guest Mode, Soft." The lights came on about thirty percent and soft cello music began playing.

Skye grinned enough that even her back teeth were visible. Jack didn't bring over guests that often to his home, but when he did, most were _not_ impressed by home automation. He certainly wasn'y one of the first adopters. It was actually fun seeing the vixen light up with it though.

"I'm… I'm staying here?" asked the wolf, still obviously thinking that he'd misunderstood.

"Here and wherever you're driving me. It's pretty boring, I promise you, but that's the deal," Jack expressed. He didn't have a lot of apprehension concerning the lupine, since he'd have to pass a background check to get the job he already held. The only difference was that jack didn't have to pay for the background check. It was the little things.

"I've done night security for a while," Gary explained. "Contending with boredom is my profession," he chuckled.

"Good!" Jack returned, "Then, check out the hall just up those stairs. Rooms on both sides. Those are guest quarters. Provided you and your colleague are respectable company you are welcome to it as much as you need it. Mind the noise, obviously. Bunny ears, and all." He wasn't really trying to push the lupine away, but he figured that Skye would need to head home once she calmed down and he didn't want Gary still wandering around confused.

"I… Yeah, I'll check it out." He glanced back at Jack and then headed upstairs, incredulous at the very least. "Coooool..." he murmured just loud enough for lapine ears.

"That was nice of you, Jack. I know he was really stressing. He hasn't got a clue what to think," expressed the vixen.

"It'll turn to routine quickly enough I suppose. Certainly nothing new to me. Been a while though. I despise the wealthy culture of apparent mass servitude. I like to think that if I were suddenly lost in a jungle somewhere I could survive without someone to bring me hot towels at three in the morning."

"I know. I saw your interview on Late Night about Class-ism," Skye followed him as he opened the double doors just ahead of the front doors which lead into the very spacious and lovingly decorated living room. While there were several plush chairs for lounging and a few semi-circular couches curled behind low half-moon coffee tables, Skye made her way to the c-shaped white velvet couch that sat in front of an embarrassingly enormous flat-screen television.

"Can we check to see if there's more news about it all?" asked the lady fox. Jack moved over to her. She was still flying high. It was a mix of joy, adrenaline, a bit of fear and maybe a hint of shock. It was a very sudden change. While a normal guest situation would regard immediately gravitating to the television as something of a social blunder, he simply could not blame her single-mindedness. This was a huge deal, and Jack was increasingly interested in how the city was reacting.

The bunny sat close beside Skye on the couch as she managed to fumble through the digital menus of an unfamiliar entertainment setup with pretty intuitive accuracy. Mentally, Skye was no slouch. She was quick-witted and well-read. It bothered Jack just a little that it was so unexpected, but most of the vixens he knew were actresses, and a lot of them honed their appearance and not their minds. This one had both. His ears fell back again as he considered that she _did_ have both. He liked how she looked.

"Give her a moment..." That voice was Peter Moosebridge, shown bigger than life on the massive screen as his snow leopard co-anchor openly dabbed her eyes with a purple handkerchief one of the set managers had just handed her. The moose turned his attention back to the viewers. "Details are still emerging, but Officer Wilde was rescued from beneath the city less than 48 hours after being declared dead by officials. What resulted was an alarming spectacle in Palm Market that we are not able to show on the air due to its… extreme graphic nature." Moosebridge shuffled his papers in apparent discomfort. Oh yeah. He saw it.

"This … This event..." Fabienne Growley wrested her segment back as she got her emotions under control, "… follows up a highly dramatic week of speculation, accusation, and introspection. The attack on the Trunkapalooza event was thwarted largely by the skillful police work done by Officer Wilde and his already decorated partner, Judy Hopps. What we do know is that Officer Hopps was not authorized continue to search for her partner, and found him during his… during his..." she hastily looked up at the lights and the handkerchief came back.

"His funeral, a private event with family and friends, was interrupted by the news," Moosbridge helpfully continued. Skye sniffled.

"What was that like? How did they get the news?" Jack asked, pulling a paw on the emotional vixen's shoulder.

"Huh? Oh… The chief of police was up at the… the podium, giving his speech. He hadn't even started before his phone went off. He silenced it again and again, and then answered it. Then he told Vivienne… That… That's Nick's mom. Viv… And… Jack, I think I fainted. I just remember getting up and being out of it and mammals were scattering."

"Wait, the fennec left you unconscious?" asked the lapine protectively. Unacceptable.

"What? No, no, he caught me. I mean… He tried to. Some other mammals helped us both. He stayed until he knew I was alright, but he was … he was pretty high on life, so he rode off on an elephant… one of the officers there." Jack calmed himself. Right. Finnick was her friend, wasn't he? He wouldn't do that to her. The thought of Skye on the ground with mammals freaking out, vulnerable to being trampled… He took a deeper breath.

The snow leopard newscaster continued. "We urge viewers to continue checking with ZNN for new and breaking news regarding this incredible turn of events, and not to try to call or otherwise approach the hospital where Hopps and Wilde are recovering, as this may interfere with the important life-saving duties of the hospital staff, and the traffic may prevent the arrival of ambulances..." The vixen watched, transfixed. Jack could understand. She was a part of this. She helped Judy make it happen, apparently. She broke that bunny into the DEC so that this could happen. And poor Skye had to basically wait outside and say almost nothing about her involvement. Except, she trusted him enough that she immediately told him. Had she meant to? He'd never betray her.

"Gimme a sec, I'll get us something to drink," Jack expressed.

"Oh! Oh yes, thank you. This… Yeah, this needs a drink." She appeared a little embarrassed to have been pretty much ignoring her host, but the bunny didn't hold it against her. He excused himself to the kitchen and hopped up on the step-stool that gave him access to the higher cabinets. The place was built for someone his mom's size. It was easier for a smaller mammal to hop up than it was for a larger one to remain smashed down all the time. The whole city worked that way with exception of specialized areas.

He opened the cabinet and immediately selected exactly what he wanted. The bottle was easily half the size of him. He'd been saving this for something special, and this was uniquely special. He selected a bit awkwardly two crystal glasses and then moved back to his guest.

Skye spoke as the bunny sat beside her. "They make it sound like he's not even gonna pull through with how they go on and on about his condition being unknown, but aside from being on pain meds and looking like hell, he seemed like the same old… old… Oh my god that's old. Please tell me that's not actually from 1928, Jack. Wait, don't…!"

POP!

He poured some for both of them. "It's alright, Skye. It doesn't do any good just sitting in a cabinet. It's made for good times. Like this."

"Jack, how much is that bottle of champagne?" asked the fox with a heavy helping of anxiousness. Jack furrowed his brow. This wasn't about price. He could understand why that would be important to Skye. She was pretty open about how low-maintenance she intended to be as a friend. Still, this wasn't about the fox. It was about the moment, and he intended to share that moment with her.

"It's okay, it's only twenty, Skye," Jack chuckled warmly, trying to dispel her unease.

"Oh… Oh that's not so bad." She took a long, slow sip of the bubbly and did the canine snuffle long-snouted mammals often did when the carbon dioxide gets in their nose. Jack thought it was cute. She wiggled her whiskers and then her eyes widened.

"Good?" Jack asked.

"Twenty. Twenty _what_ , Jack?" The bunny sighed, still smiling.

"Just enjoy the drink!" he laughed.

"I can just look up the label on my phone, Jack. Twenty _what_?" She stared at the glass, moving her tongue around in her muzzle, obviously more carefully appreciating the taste.

"Grand, obviously. And as I said. It's all about the moment. This champagne is happy to be brought out to celebrate. That's all it's ever wanted since 1928."

"Oh my god I just swallowed about 400 bucks..." she whimpered.

"How was it?" Jack asked with a smirk.

"Delicious," the vixen said sweetly, and then had another sip.

And together, they enjoyed the news cycle for a while. Then Jack pulled up a series of Ewetube videos that horribly spoofed some of his earlier films. Skye seemed to love that, and he felt that it humbled him a little to make her care a little less that he'd just shared a very expensive drink with her. He wanted to entertain her, maybe even impress her a little, but he didn't want her to think he was full of himself. He didn't care what a lot of mammals thought, but this pretty white fox… he cared.

As one does with Ewetube, the control of videos passed back and forth and eventually the buck and vixen found themselves a little buzzed and listening to a rather sultry playlist from Zerda, a fennec singer known for club mixes and her shrill but haunting vocals. She did the ending theme for Jack's last movie. Jack was watching her pull on her cute sailboat ears seductively when he felt Skye lean against him a bit more and then… that thick white sea of fluff that was Skye's tail looped around him.

Don't touch them. He'd been told. They actually took him aside before a film shoot with a fox actress and gave him some do's and don'ts. Don't touch their tails. It's intimate.

His paws pushed into the fluff. He liked soft things. Most bunnies did. He was unprepared. It was so soft his ears nearly rang from it. Impossible. Unfair. Off-limits to touching was the greatest crime ever perpetrated.

"Is it bad if they're maybe… you know… together?" asked the vixen rather suddenly. There was a slowness to her voice showing that while she was coherent, she was really relaxed. They'd gone through about half the bottle, so that wasn't a surprise. Jack was used to having a drink now and then, so he was acclimated to it, but maybe, despite being twice his weight, Skye didn't drink much.

"Whadaya mean?" Jack asked, pretty relaxed himself. No one stopped his tail petting so it continued daringly.

Nick the fox and Judy the bunny." The way she said it made it plain why she was asking. Was it okay because of what they were. "Your mom and dad… did it cause problems?" she inquired. "I'm sorry. That's personal. You don't have to tell me that. I worry. I know how mammals can be."

"They didn't have much trouble, but they were both highly respected before things turned romantic," Jack answered. It was a fair question, especially with his hands full of fox fluff. She looked prestigious herself in the black button up top and skirt she wore. It stuck Jack again that the vixen he was actively petting was actually dressed for a funeral that had been astonishingly canceled. It was easy to forget how utterly ridiculous this very moment was without it being a fox and bunny cuddling on the couch.

"I know they're in love, Jack. I just… I don't want it to be hard on them. They deserve what they have." Her arm looped around him and he found himself pulled a little tighter against Skye. He felt a pang of fear about how little he wanted her to stop.

"What do they have?" asked Jack. It was an honest query. Yes, he saw that they probably had feelings for each other, but what did she see, exactly? Did it bother _her_ that it was a fox and a bunny? Sure, other predator prey pairings had been on social media pretty hard, but the reaction was always mixed. In all of those that Jack had seen, he could not remember one so diametrically opposed as fox and bunny. It was exotic. Some would even think it was dangerous. Oh yes, he knew how mammals were. But he wasn't raised that way. He appreciated this fox for who she was, yes, but it would have been lying to say he didn't also like that she was a fox. There wasn't anything wrong with admitting that. Would it be a problem for Judy, though? She grew up in Bunnyburrow. They had a dead fox statue in a garden at the center of town.

"They have each other," Skye said softly. "What else do they need?"

"Resilience. It won't be easy, but I suspect if anyone could do it, it's gotta be them. I don't envy them for the hardships they might face, but we both know that every single mammal in the city couldn't hope to stop it. Not standing in the kind of fire those two have in their souls." Skye pushed her cool nose-pad at the rim of Jack's ear, making him suck in a barely audible gasp.

"You sound like you're delivering lines from a movie. I don't recognize them though," Skye murmured warmly, seeming happy with them.

"You know all of my lines so well?" asked the buck playfully. He didn't want to dwell too much on rumors of what the other fox and bunny had ahead of them. They would figure things out on their own. Skye seemed pretty sure.

"You _know_ that I'm a fan of your movies. You shouldn't be surprised. I wanted to be just like you when I saw your first movie, back when I was a teenager." She held her cheeks, embarrassing herself by saying it.

"When you were a teenager? That would make you about..." Jack pondered. He was only 19 when his first movie came out, so she couldn't be to much younger, but…

"Don't you dare," the fox grinned. "And no, I'm not a delicate little foxy flower. I'm a year younger than you." She slapped down one of his ears with a little whap. He laughed.

"Was Wilde serious about the cardboard cut-out?" asked Jack. He regretted saying it the moment he did as the vixens eyes went wide and round. Yeah, that was probably embarassing.

"It's a theater stand of the damned mech-suit from Lagomorph 2!" she flailed. She then scooped up a couch pillow and whopped him. Jack cackled and fell over on the couch as the fox pummeled him. "No teasing foxes!" she exclaimed.

"Okay, okay. I can't help it. You made.. You made a heck of an impression!" Jack said, putting his paws up against Skye's shoulders, seeing her nose close to his. His heart was already beating hard from the playful couch struggle.

"Remember that you licked me back though. Like some kind of Savage." She grinned down at him.

"It wasn't a kiss," he clarified. He hoped he didn't give her the wrong idea. He'd never have forced her like that.

"Damned right it wasn't. Foxes don't kiss like that. Not when they really mean it," she whispered. Jack's heart pounded faster and he felt an almost electrical thrill through him.

"Teeth," he said in a perilously uneven breath. "They use their teeth. I know that."

"Do they frighten you at all?" asked the vixen, grinning, eyes narrow, seeming to dare him to look. He'd seen his mom's teeth plenty as a kit. He had openly touched them and loved seeing them when she'd laugh.

"No. Never," he said seriously. He wasn't raised to hate them. Fangs mean smiling mother. They comforted him.

"What if I touched you with them? Would that be scary? It's gotta be like… the most primal fear…" she suggested. Jack became suddenly aware that he was being held, pinned, on the couch by the larger, likely stronger vixen, and her muzzle was in inch from his. Sure, she was a little less inhibited because of the champagne, but she was absolutely not drunk. Neither of them were.

"Afraid? No… I might even like that," he said daringly, calling her bluff.

It wasn't a bluff. Skye leaned in and captured one of Jack's ears in her teeth. She didn't bite, she just let him feel the heat of her mouth over the section of ear she captured, and ran it through her teeth as she leaned back up. Skye then reared back, as if surprised she had even done it.

"Shit. I'm sorry, I was just going along with the teasing! I… I didn't mean to startle you!" she quipped, releasing him from her paws.

"Huh?" Jack asked.

"You were shaking," Skye observed.

"I… It wasn't fear," Jack said in a softer tone, though more alarmed by the actual reason than by the teeth a moment before.

"I know, but a bunny would never..." She faltered. Jack tensed up. The evening was lighthearted and fun. He didn't want it to suffer because of a mistaken perception.

"Maybe some bunnies, but I thought it was … nice." He felt like such a doofus. Usually with females he didn't have to explain himself. He was certainly no stranger to romance, but for him it was usually like a game. There were rules… steps you took… and at the end, maybe physical stuff happened. This was different. He was completely tangled up in making her happy, not in just having fun. Skye was going through a lot, and she deserved to be happy. He didn't want to mess that up for her.

"Nice?" Skye looked at him blankly with those wide, expressive, pretty blue eyes.

"Nice," the bunny clarified.

"You should probably run. This fox is gonna bite you again." She grinned.

Jack grinned back. "Oh-ho… You think bunnies are easy to catch?" he asked.

"Nick caught one," Skye practically purred. Jack's heart sped up. This was fun. This daring back and forth was different from any female interaction he could remember. They were playing like kits.

"By the looks of it, I think the bunny caught him." Jack then sprung up. He was athletic enough that he did a more than a few of his own stunts. He somersaulted backwards on the couch, caught the arm of it with his small paws and vaulted over the little end table and on his feet.

"You think I won't actually chase you all over this house, Savage?" the fox snapped playfully, on her paws and knees immediately. Jack laughed. He couldn't believe they were actually doing this.

"I clearly have the advantage, Skye. You don't know your way around this house." He crossed his arms defiantly.

"Alright, you talked yourself out of it." Her words were delivered frankly as she took a serious expression. Jack's ears dropped back and he found himself sinking with a dose of disappointment.

"Talked myself out of what?" he asked.

"A head start." Skye dropped and then was literally airborne.

"Oh Fu-" He managed to dodge just in time and bolt for the door to the foyer. Skye crashed into something, so that was probably toast, but he invited this game so Jack, honestly elated, couldn't care less.

"Sir?" asked the wolf at the bottom of the stairs that lead to the guest rooms.

"Not now!" Jack bolted past him. Her heard toe-claws on the marble floor in front of the front door.

"Go get him, Lady Skye!" laughed Gary.

"Fired!" cried Jack down the stairs.

"He's kidding!" laughed Skye, probably witnessing the wolf's panicked expression.

"He didn't even try to save me!" cried the bunny. His heart was, in a word, soaring. This was stupid. It was childish. It was reckless and silly but his heart screamed with the satisfaction of it. He'd not felt close to anyone like this in a long, long time. His mom used to chase him around the house like this. Maybe he should have felt odd that it reminded him of that, but it wasn't about his mother. It was about a familiar comfort that was stripped from him so soon. Skye was chasing him but didn't mean to harm him. They were having fun. It was just for fun. Nothing else.

"Okay, I'll save you sir!" cried the wolf with a laugh. "Nothing personal mi-" There was a thump.

"Down boy." Jack paused at hearing Skye say that. Did she get tackled?

"Guh… You're on your own, sir. Avenge me." Gary's statement did not inspire confidence. He heard skittering up the stairs.

"Shit." Jack turned and looked frantically. Which room could he hide in.

Hide.

No.

He wanted to choose the right one to utterly destroy playing with Skye. What the hell was he thinking? What was going to happen? Where was this leading? Yesterday he was reviewing lines to a part of a movie that he felt was too stupid for him to even say, and now he was tearing his house apart with a fox he wanted to hold pretty much forever.

What was he feeling?

Was this what his mother warned him would happen one day?

He laughed. He had told himself before that was just silly. It was cartoon movie stuff. It didn't happen like that.

Skye spoke in a deeper voice, perhaps intending to sound like a narrator. "We find our hero standing in a hallway, overwhelmed by the choices offered by a house with too many rooms. What will offer him any hope against the teeth of a vixen scorned by his escape?"

"Madame! I appeal to your sense of good taste that you will perchance observe that this is a mere drafty and unattractive hallway. No place to write this meaningful chapter of your story!" Jack grinned playfully, hoping by himself some time.

Skye stood defiantly at the top of the stairs. "I've unclogged more bathtubs thick with greasy skunk fur in three months than you have shot full length feature films. Pride ain't gonna be a factor. Eat hallway carpet, pretty boy." Jack gasped and just grabbed the doorknob of the room he was closet too. He played an emotional tug of war with the weight of how base that statement was with how relentlessly hot it was.

He opened the door he was beside. It was a pretty basic guest room. On bed. A dresser. A TV. A disco Ball.

Wait.

Who put that there?!

"What kind of action hero dives into a room that doesn't even have windows!?"

"Uh..." Jack looked back at Skye who flexed her claws.

"Is that a d… a disco ball?" she asked.

"I don't know where that came from. That's not mine." He looked away then back to her. It was true. He had no idea. Who was the last guest in this room? Who puts up decorations in a room they only stay in for a few days? Was it a prank? How long had it been since he was in this room? He didn't explore the house for no reason generally so it could have been a year. He had no idea.

"Right. Prepare for fox teeth."

"No, wait!" he cried, and with a thump he was on the bed. Skye was on top of him. He struggled a bit, but it was mostly for playful energy. Skye gave a sweet snarl, baring those teeth. That wasn't fear running hot in his veins. She put her muzzle down and her felt those little point close tenderly where his jaw met his neck.

And he squeaked.

And Skye laughed. And she bit him again. He didn't squeak again so she nipped and nuzzled until she got him to do it once more. She then wriggled against him and hugged him close.

"You can't call it cute. You can never call it cute!" the buck warned.

"The hell I can't, that's adorable!" she laughed, head back, her whole form shaking against him. Jack gave a little snarl of his own and leaned up, pulling the fox down some. His mouth wasn't made for it, but he pushed his buck teeth to her neck firmly to give back a good little nip.

Skye gave a sharp gasp and then drove her own head down, cupping her mouth wide over his shoulder with a long, firm push of her teeth. Jack groaned. It stung a bit, but it wasn't a bad kind of hurt. It was an embrace from those teeth, not an attack. She was gripping him, pushing him to the bed, tight and passionate.

He knew it for what it was.

He was making out with a vixen. It wasn't just play. He ran his slightly-longer-than-a-bunny's claw tips over her back between her shoulders and pulled her closer to him. She relaxed her teeth only to change angles and bite along where his shoulder and neck met, softly panting through her nose.

His mind raced only just short of the pace of his heart. Should he stop her? Was he taking advantage of her because she'd been drinking? No, she wasn't exactly slurring or unsteady. This was a lucid fox, even if she might have been made more comfortable with him by drink.

Was he taking advantage of her emotional state? She was riding high on the news that her friend was okay.

But she'd fixated on Nick and Judy being a couple. Were they a couple?

Probably. Jack certainly couldn't offer evidence to the contrary.

Were he and Skye a couple?

A sharp tug had his shirt wide open and a fox brushing her fangs down his strong, bare chest.

Oh yeah. They were definitely a couple.

Jack arched his back, a raspy gasp escaping him as the fox scooted down a little to pull his body up slightly with claws under his back to enhance the dangerous feel of their play. This interaction rested somewhere north of being attacked, but not much. It was base, primal, and thrilling.

"See there? Not scared..." puffed Jack, stroking one of Skye's ears.

"You like my tiny little ears, bunny?" she crooned, touching her nose under his chin. He put a paw under Skye's chin and nuzzled his nose to hers.

"I think they're lovely, yes," he laughed.

"I know bunnies like having their ears played with." Skye ran her claw tip along the inside of one. He was sure it was pretty pink and heated.

"Yeah, maybe, but just because yours aren't long doesn't mean I'm not gonna be attracted to them. They're like wiggly… white velvety… nachos. On your head." Jack stared blankly at the disco ball. He could almost hear the record scratch.

So. Fucking. Smooth.

"What?" asked Skye, sounding dumbfounded, rearing up to a position straddling the bunny's hips.

Well that broke the mood.

"I mean… I guess… They are kinda wide and triangular and..." He was failing so hard at digging himself out of this. Skye showed him her teeth again.

"I'm going to eat you now," she growled.

"I regret nothing!" the bunny cried and then hawmf'ed into Skye's fluffy long neck, taking a big wide mouthful of fur. She squealed and gripped him and rolled both fox and bunny hard off the bed with a thump and a crash as something fell from the end table they bumped into.

"Shit." Skye arched up, somehow managing to pin him again, even if the tumble felt uncontrolled. "I… I can fix it." There was a flash as the light bulb in the ruined lamp popped. "I can buy a new one." she sighed. Jack reached up and put both of his smaller paws on Skye's muzzle, pulling her down and giving her a sweet bunny-type kiss on her lips.

"That lamp was from Itreea. Your breath is more expensive right now than that lamp was, I assure you." He wanted to continue their little struggle. He'd never experienced anything close to this. Literally everyone he'd ever been intimate with, bunny or otherwise, was so careful with him, as if fearful of putting a hair out of place. He'd never been with a predator, this was true, but he expected that a fox would be even more meticulously careful with him.

That considered, he didn't have to be careful either.

"Alopexa… play dark gothic vocal mix and set lighting to red thirty percent." As the lights went down and shifted to red, a loud minor-keyed tone from a pipe organ wailed. This stunned the fox just enough that Jack pushed his legs hard to flip her, ending up on top of her. He held her paws over his head and grinned down at her.

" _Heck_." came the wolf's reply from the foyer where he had been waiting. Oh yeah, that was for the whole house. The heavy, passionate choral music accompanied the playing of the organ as Skye looked up at the bunny. Her expression of surprise was priceless.

"You are full of surprises, Jack Savage," admitted the vixen.

"You mean other than this ridiculous disco ball?" Jack asked, on his paws and knees, looking over the edge of the bed at Skye.

"No, I mean you failed to learn from the last time," the fox quipped and in a very fluid, seemingly impossible motion, she was launched at him again. She rolled in the air with him completely off the bed and came down with a crash on the other side of the bed. The other lamp, which had not even been turned on was toast. Jack gave a little squeak at the padded impact, more worried for Skye as he looked at the ruined cheap table. She rolled and pinned him against a table leg that was now no longer part of a table.

"Don't make me call in the wolves," laughed Jack.

"He's still walking it off from last time," Skye laughed. The bunny arched an eyebrow, and then gave that satisfying little squeak again as he found Skye's hot mouth cupping his heck again. Her paws slipped under him, running tightly under his shoulders and gripping him possessively close. He watched her fluffy tail dance around behind her.

How had it come to this? They were just watching videos on the couch. Now they were tearing up one of the guest rooms and traumatizing a wolf. This wasn't going further than playing around and teasing, was it? He didn't want to expect that was where it was going, but… his body hoped for more. He couldn't help but squirm as her nibbling and clawing only shifted to hotter passion.

"Tell me your still not afraid, Jack," whispered Skye between one of her hot little bites.

"I'm not afraid of you, Skye. I really like you," he panted.

"Good. Because right now this looks like I'm committing a second crime in two days." She pushed her cool nose against the rim of his ear again, and took it between her teeth gingerly.

"One I am an accessory to, it would appear." Jack then winced a little as Skye arched his back to roll her hips forward, betraying his physical state nicely.

Of course he was aroused. Who wouldn't be?

"I see..." Skye whispered, smiling. "You don't want me to stop, do you?"

"Do you want to stop?" he asked. He never knew what to say in this situation. Was he supposed to say yes? Was he supposed to resist? Would she stop even if he did?

"I don't want you to regret any of this. I really like you, too," she whispered.

"I worry you'll be the one regretting it. Being close to someone under the public microscope can be… unsatisfying." That was the literal last word of his most recent intimate relationship. That had been more than a year ago. He didn't have much of a desire to fix his bachelor title after that one.

"You'll find a maintenance fox to be unusually low maintenance, Jack." She finished pulling his shirt open and ran her claws over his firm tummy. He heard one of the buttons clatter against part of the broken table.

"I guess it's good that's where your experience happens to be. Probably gonna break a lot more things in the coming weeks," he chuckled weakly. Oh yeah. They were a couple. It crept up on him, but he couldn't say no.

He loved this. His entire time with her, he'd loved all of it. He provided the softest bunny-style kiss between her ears as she ran her nose down his chest and over his tummy. Jack's heart raced as her felt her claws slip down to his thighs, just brushing over his slacks. He could feel them though. Those dull points were tantalizing through fabric.

"You don't… have anyone who will be upset about this?" she asked.

"No," Jack honestly answered. "You will find non-maintenance mammals to be very _high_ maintenance, and I am often a very busy mammal. My few… attempts at a close relationship have deemed my attentions inadequate." Jack grunted anxiously as Skye's paw cupped over the ridge of firmness in his trousers and gave the barest undulating squeeze. How far was the vixen likely to take this? He didn't want to force it but his body was begging for it at this point.

"I'm glad you aren't afraid of being bitten and clawed, Jack..." Skye whispered. "I don't have to pretend with you. This is… good..." Her muzzle lowered and she cupped her muzzle over his thigh. Jack provided another high-pitched squeak and Skye answered with one of her own, and then a cute little giggle.

"Sorry, I can't help it. That kinda tickles," he panted.

"I love it," Skye replied, looking up over his body. Her ice blue eyes were almost violet in the odd red light of the room, and glowing red dots tracked over her face. She moved back a little to adjust her position and Jack took advantage of that. She gave a little yelp as he rolled forward and forced her to the carpeted floor behind her with a thump. He pinned her shoulders and looked at her sweet, angular vulpine face. She was beautiful. He couldn't deny that. Not even from the first time he'd seen her. Most white foxes he'd seen had those really short ears. Skye's were more appealing to him.

"I love looking into your eyes. My favorite color, if you'd believe that," he offered.

"I'm aware. It's in your bio," the vixen replied in a mellow tone.

"The only bio where I gave my favorite color was featured in Snugglebunny," the buck responded with a smug grin. He watched the insides of Skye's ears go pink before they pinned back, her eyes wide.

"The article could be read on the web too," she huffed. Jack smiled and leaned back enough to put his paws down along her tummy. Canids liked this. He knew that for a fact. His paws spread wide and he pushed up, the black sash of her dress at waist-level slipping over his hands. There was still fabric under them, but his own claw tips were longer than a bunny's normally would be. He scratched slowly through the fabric. Skye dropped her head back and sighed happily.

"Was curious if it worked for foxes," the bunny stated casually.

"It's great, Jack, but that's a spoil a vixen and put her to sleep activity." Her eyes were closed and she appeared nicely relaxed.

"Well, we should probably get up on the bed if you're feeling up for a little nap. It has been a long day," the buck teased.

"Are you wanting to get me into bed, is that it?" she returned with a coy look in her eyes. Jack felt himself flush, and was sure it was obvious because her expression melted noticeably. In his distraction, however, he found himself flipped back over, this time to the side, pressed up to the drawers that were under the bed. Did Skye have a reason to want him to stay on the floor? Not that he minded as her hips rested on his pinned legs and her claws pulled eagerly over his chest.

"Your heart's beating so fast..." she observed. "You sure you aren't afraid of your diametrically opposed predator counterpart?"

"Should I worry about being eaten?" Jack chuckled. He would normally worry about offending a fox with something like that, but for some reason, with Skye it just seemed playful.

"I dunno. I might..." She grinned down at him. "I think I have better uses for a handsome stripped buck like you, though." She pushed her paw down over his firm masculinity again, getting an eager undulation from his hips even though he hadn't willed it. It was a bit cheesy, perhaps, but he certainly wasn't minding that.

Jack tried to think of something equally goofy to say back to the fox, as he loved just talking to her, but his wit stumbled as he felt a tug at his belt, and then the tension release. Dexterous fox paws worked the fly of his trousers and he dropped his head back. Things were moving fast, but the passion was real. They both soared on a natural high of emotional joy for their friends, and a little artificial high from the drink. Graceful vulpine fingers unceremoniously ensnared his pink bare flesh the second it became visible. He puffed out a hot breath just to prevent another giggle-inducing squeak. His eyes shot down to see his tip peeking over the completely engulfing fox paw. A slow compression from beaded clear pre at his tip and he felt himself twitch hard in her grip.

"Hahh..." he was speechless. He was well endowed for a bunny, so he easily filled that paw, but a fox would probably fill two. Would she even be satisfied with him physically?

Suddenly, it didn't matter as much as her soft thumb-pad rolled in a slow circle over his sensitive tip, smearing his slick pre around and teasing him so nicely. His knees came up a little, but Skye's flanks were in the way so he could only barely brace his feet to keep his hips from trembling. Her slow, smooth motions felt so intensely heavenly.

"I hope I'm not being too aggressive..." whispered the vixen as she made no attempt to let go.

"I'm loving your aggression, Skye," he replied in a wavering tone. He wasn't lying. Part of what was driving him crazy was that he wasn't worried about upsetting Skye by pushing her. She was in control. It normally wasn't like that for him. He was expected to be in 'action hero' mode in bed. Somehow that was just the natural expectation.

This was a very stimulating change of pace.

"So slippery..." Skye continued to compress with her paw and then spread the fairly copious natural lubricant around. Jack swallowed loudly to stifle the urge to groan. He'd been pleasured before, but it never felt like what the other mammal truly wanted to do on the rather rare occasion that he'd been fully intimate with a lover. He always got the impression that they wanted him to take care of them. With Skye, it wasn't like that. She was enjoying it.

"Foxes aren't slippery?" he asked, then feeling some trepidation over having asked it. That was pretty nervous.

"I certainly am," huffed the vixen. Jack's ears were torches. He hadn't expected her to respond with that. "I assume you mean males though. I don't know. I lack experience."

"You… You do?" he asked.

"The world's pretty harsh, Jack." The bunny watched his fox as she spoke, trembling because she continued to tease him intimately with her paw and thumb as she did. It was serious and he wanted to focus on the seriousness of it but it felt so damned good! "not everyone is responsibly minded, when it comes to starting a family, but I like to believe that I would choose a mate that I know could provide a good life. The pickings are, honestly, pretty slim among foxes."

"Well, you aren't on the right road for a kit here!" laughed Jack.

"I'm not worried about a kit _here_ , Jack," the fox laughed. "So you should know… tonight's all about enjoying being alive, right now, with you."

With that, her hips shifted forward appreciably and her paws tucked under his member just in time to give him a slow, wet stroke under her skirt. He didn't need an anatomy class to understand that. Skye huffed deliciously and buckled a bit over him, one paw on his shoulder, the other tucking him tightly against her puffy, quivering need.

"Yes..." Jack hissed, as if agreeing to this would be needed. If he'd have said no, he felt sure a crime would follow. The fox pushed her his back and forth with her fingers pushing his pink spire upward slightly to tease herself against him.

To the bunny's delight, his vulpine lover spoke as she teased herself against him. "This is… This is more than I should… ask you for. I hope.. you don't… want me to stop..."

"No way..." Jack whispered, flexing and practically writhing underneath her. She kept her hand under his turgid shaft and angled him upward just a little to tease herself upon him. He winced at the pleasure racing up through his body, chest rising and falling with need as she played with him so erotically. He couldn't see a thing, however, because she still wore that little black dress. It spread over his thighs, so all he could do was feel her puffy folds mashing and spreading and covering him with her wetness.

While bunny noses were not as keen as fox noses, he could certainly smell her need at that moment. It was intoxicating. The soft, earthy, hot musky scent of fox was something that a rabbit should probably not be attracted to, but he drew in deep breaths to memorize it's perfect, heated notes. To the bunny's elation, the sounds Skye began to make expressed her own growing pleasure. Maybe it didn't matter at all that he was a bunny. She was still enjoying this. He groaned in spite of his efforts not to be loud. Wolves had good hearing and Gary hadn't signed a nondisclosure agreement about Jack's personal life as of yet.

Skye moved her hips back and forth, keeping her paw cupped between her thighs to press that pink spire of bunny lust against her soaking slit so that he was wetly stroked between fingertips and vulpine heat. Jack was no stranger to intimacy but he'd never experienced this method of teasing. His nerves were on fire.

"Nuuh… It's… been a while… I'm not gonna last long like this..." he warned.

"Poor bunny… Sorry, not sorry..." She laughed lightly at his dilemma, but then shifted backward, down his legs, taking her heavenly heat with her. Jack grunted. What did she mean? Sorry, not sorry? Was it all a tease? Was she stopping? Surely not. She didn't seem that legitimately cruel! She would never -

Jack gave a deeper, louder groan.

Skye's muzzle overtook his cock and she held that pulsing flesh inside. The entire thing. Her muzzle was long enough that it wasn't difficult for her to accomplish. She drew her head back up slowly, suckling on that length as it emerged, and then wrapping a paw around it. That paw then slid up, and her other paws followed it. Then, both paws slipped back down one after the other, followed by her muzzle. She sighed out happily as her paws pressed flat to his tummy after stroking down wetly over him. The effect was like a completely impossibly deep penetration and Jack's left foot started rapidly thumping.

He couldn't help it.

Skye started giggling around his shaft as he throbbed in her muzzle. She repeated that motion more slowly this time. Jack managed to control his foot because he didn't want to distract his fox. He'd been at least a little adventurous in his dealings with the fairer sex, but most of his partners were bunnies. The presence of larger front teeth and a short muzzle made it nearly impossible for a bunny to perform this particular act. Certainly it could never be done this well. Jack felt his need surging and he struggled to hold himself still.

"Skye..." he whimpered. Up and down she went, stroking his entire length in both paws and in her muzzle. Her tongue pressed tightly at his tip like hot wet silk.

"Mmmhmm..." her tone was that of permission.

Jack gave another rapt little squeak and just exploded as Skye bottomed out, mouth fully around him again. His foot drummed on the carpeted floor as he listened to the slow, methodical contractions of the vixen's throat. She swallowed every drop as she cupped his fuzzy sack in her wet paw. Jack cried out in pleasure as the pressure inside the fox's muzzle dropped hard and she began suckling out the copious essence he gladly fed to her.

"Fuck!" he cried, a bit vulgar for him, but he couldn't help it. The pleasure was blinding. He throbbed so hard it ached, and she didn't stop.

"Mmmmnnh..." The satisfied tone from his foxy lover would have been ego-boosting to the bunny if it were not for the fact that she began lifting and dropping her head, stroking him in her muzzle post-climax.

"Gah! S-stop, t-too sensitive!" he squeaked. Another giggle from Skye, but at least she separated from his tingling flesh with an audible pop. She moved up over the bunny on all fours, looking intensely predatory. Jack huffed heavily, panting from the over-stimulation.

"Poor, poor bunny..." she growled, snapping him back to coherent attention.

"That was..." He tried to compliment her, but he was speechless. Nothing had ever felt like that.

"Delicious..." Skye leaned down over him, her teeth teasing at his jaw and throat. It sent a hard thrill through him. Delicious. Bunnies were delicious. She had to know how dark that sounded, but with the red light and heavy-toned Gothic music, it felt appropriate.

A paw mashed his softening flesh against vulpine lust again. Jack groaned.

"I need to rec-" Jack's words were interrupted by a squeak as Skye's teeth gripped a lot tighter where his jaw and neck met. He felt suddenly paralyzed.

She needed hers, and she wasn't going to be patient about it. Her hips pushed and undulated as she mashed him tighter to her soaking entrance. Jack squirmed, whimpering with the burning tingle of post-climactic over-sensitivity. He didn't dare argue. She should get to enjoy this as much as she wanted. Was this normal for foxes? He had no idea.

Jack was actually surprised to find that firmness returned pretty quickly with the threat of being squeezed tighter in the vixen's jaws. The sensation was still uncomfortably intense when she pushed him just slightly tighter and upward and with a gasp he felt the hot saturating channel of her inner flesh push down over his entire twitching spire.

"God..." he huffed. He was immediately fully aroused again.

"Mine..." growled the vixen, grinning down at her claimed bunny.

"Yes..." Jack panted out. He meant it. How the hell was he supposed to wait for some other lover to ever come close? Her being a fox not only didn't harm the notion, it actively enhanced it. Was it genetic? Was his family on his dad's side predisposed to like predators? He had no idea, but it was, for that moment, kind of a moot point. He was as deep as he could be in a vixen so _he_ certainly liked them just fine!

With a snarl, Skye's hips dropped hard on Jack's lap. He gave a surprised squeak.

"Perfect," she growled and then quite earnestly all hell broke loose.

Claws pushed into her shoulders to pin him hard to the floor and her head tilted back, teeth bared in a pleasure snarl as her hips jerked hard and heavy over him, slapping her white-furred thighs hard upon him with a steady, body-shaking whap-whap-whap-whap.

"Shh-shh-shhh!" Jack tried to quiet Skye a little. This was a very, very obvious set of sounds for their lupine guest. Even downstairs it would have been obvious. He got a snarl and a little nip to the rim of his ear. Jack growled at that himself, and then huffed in desperation. He pulled Skye's dress upward, peeling it up off of her. If she'd been wearing anything under it, she had shed that at some point during their play already. He bared his vixen easily with a little assistance once he got the garment over her shoulders.

The lack of clothing made the vixen need to pant less, but it also made it so the forceful encounter was even more vicious. Jack struggled under her, again considering if this was normal for a fox. It was pretty violent in bunny terms, but the adventurous action star relished it.

He finally felt the need to let his vulpine companion know she wasn't taking something he wasn't willing to give to her. With a hard, sudden push, he rolled her to the side and pulled her hips up under him, planting both paws into her shoulders as he half-curled her under him.

"Jack!" she gasped out, surprised.

And he drummed her hard with rapidly moving lapine thighs. He gave it everything he had and for the first time was neither fearful of harming his lover, nor worried she'd be offended. He could take this fox as hard as he wanted, based on how heavily she'd been riding him a moment before.

He was so focused on using his entire body as hard as he could that he didn't realize how much his vixen liked that until she wailed a sweet-toned near howl of pleasure. Jack grunted loudly as her inner flesh convulsed around him and he felt wet heat on his pounding thighs.

And he fucked her harder still. His muscles burned, but the beautiful cry of his gorgeous fox lover crooning out the melody of her orgasm incensed him harder than any dance mix had during a workout, willing him to burn his body hotter.

"Oh my g-g-aahhh!" Skye plateaued hard, her inner flesh shuddering again. She then flipped the bunny again. Jack cried out in genuine pain as his shoulder went into the broken table with a clatter of one of the other legs breaking off. As Skye drove herself harder against the smaller mammal, he stopped caring about the possible bruise from the broken furniture. She rode him out to another hard release, and Jack tried to roll her again, wanting to take advantage of her blissful stupor but she snarled and moved off of him, his wet flesh slapping against his taught, soaked tummy.

At first he felt a pang of worry that he'd upset her by struggling, but he gave a lightly panicked squeak as she grabbed him around the upper body and just hurled him upward and then slammed his smaller form down on the bed hard enough that the mattress bounced up off of the box spring and ended up misaligned on it. She was back on him in a single rapid heartbeat. Thud thud thud thud! The fox rode Jack to his namesake, utterly savage. His back ached. He was going to have a lot of trouble doing his job tomorrow. He was glad he took it off.

The vixen pumped her hips harder and faster over him, but she grimaced in desperation as it became obvious she was having some trouble getting to her next climax. Jack felt a little bad about it, since he had probably interrupted her on the verge of it and that's why she had grabbed him and thrown him on the bed in frustration.

"Yes! Harder, Skye!" Jack encouraged. He didn't want her holding back and being denied pleasure because she was trying not to hurt him. He'd heal. And she dropped her hips so much harder on him that he couldn't prevent the little squeak each time she did. He feared that would prevent her from going on because she'd have to stop and laugh, but it seemed to have an opposite effect.

"Fuck!" cried the vixen as that slick sleeve of heat snatched up tight again. She buckled and put her jaws over his shoulder. Jack pumped his thighs hard from underneath her as her heat poured over his sack slapping hard at her sex-tortured slit. The buck growled with determination, feeling his own climax welling up. Skye wasn't moving this time, though. She clutched him tight to ride out her climax, shivering with joy, making sound similar to sobbing but joyful all the same.

Jack flipped Skye again so he could push himself to his own release and forgot that the mattress had come half way off. With a loud bang and thud, both lovers were over the side. Skye was on her back on the floor opposite of where they had been with the mattress leaning up against the wall and partially mashing them together.

Jacks ears barely caught a voice from downstairs. "Oh... heck." Well, the wolf was still there, at least.

Jack ignore it and gave it everything he had.

Skye whimpered with joy as the bunny hammered his thighs hard and fast against her, the vixen's legs ensnaring him.

"I'm close!" he puffed breathlessly. Skye whined in an encouraging tone and then shuddered hard again. Claws latched into his lower back and ripped downward to pull his thighs harder against her as she wailed again with release.

That was about twice what he needed to pop. The bunny erupted even harder than he had in the vixen's muzzle despite it being round two. He growled in furious pleasure as he drove himself to dizziness from over-exertion. The shaking caused a picture to fall off the wall and shatter. That was it then. They broke pretty much everything in that room except the disco ball.

It was quiet for some time, aside from the music playing. The song was instrumental and slow. It was intended perhaps to feel dark, but it felt more like a love song.

"Did I hurt you? I smell blood..." Skye's tone was full of concern.

"I'm okay," panted Jack. "I needed that."

"You needed to be torn up by a fox?" she asked.

"No, I mean… I needed to … I wanted to experience that kind of passion. It was… I've never felt that before. I've never had anything even close."

"I hope you don't have any shirtless scenes coming up," she offered weakly.

"Nah, those are done for this project. I… I'm not sure how I will manage to shoot any other scenes like them after this. I will have to pretend to be totally into it now." He laughed weakly, then suddenly worried if Skye would be jealous of anyone he shot that kind of scene with.

"Can't bring myself to apologize," she laughed. "Thank you Jack. I needed that too. I hope you don't think this was just… some weird achievement for me. I am honestly very, very fond of you. You have to know that," she said softly.

"I love you, Skye." Jack was surprised to hear himself say it, but it was honest. He felt it. He felt it more genuinely than he could ever remember with anyone else. He wanted his life to include her. She was the kind of fox who would risk her life for others, and give all of herself to him. She was smart, attractive, passionate, honest and adventurous. She was everything he'd ever hoped to have.

"Oh… Oh Jack..." she whispered, apparently surprised to hear it as well. She then pulled him into an embrace. She then whispered sweetly into his ear, tickling the rim with her cute foxy whiskers. "I love you too, Squeaker."

"S-Squeaker?" he asked. Oh crap.

He had earned that, he felt, and hearing that cute twittering laugh from Skye melted his heart.

"This music is not… as appropriate now." Skye seemed to try to downplay any unintended insult with her cute nickname.

"Alopexa, lights orange, 30 percent, play song 'Hey, Hey, Mr. Fox'." The buck grinned down at his vixen.

"Oh Hell no!" cried Skye before laughing.

"You wanted different music!" Jack laughed. He gasped as the fox managed to flip him back over with a thump under the weight of the overturned mattress.

"I'm riding you till the song's done, Squeaker," she growled.

"What?!" cried the stricken stripey lapine.

Poor, poor bunny.


End file.
